St. Landry democrat., 1887-09-24


the sacred memories Of the past, oV all
Ihe hlIuhf hopes of the future, | con
IuIr Won, INV ttI5ow- soldiers. TO vote as
YOU fought for III NlnHIr21InS NlchnlIa
from the inul a>rerSions cast upon hilu
you are but vlnUlcat!ug yourselves
! STRONG CASH AGAINST THE COY"
E.tN0E.
II secretary of State viii \. Strong
has lust been tried for the second time
before A Jury of bis CountTvmen tor EN-
be1zl.ug State funds and found guilty,
Now let us review the history OK Mt.
Ntrong'S connection with the govern
luprIt. and see who is respoMsIpla lot
he l"ux delay IL the protection OF the
interests Of the State. I ne election law
ot l~~2 provided that all ballots snou.d
i've printed on official paper to be iur-
nlEAei ny the Secretary OF state. VINO
vas allowed commission OF per cent
over the cost price. 10 procure a stock
of this paper to supply Canuldates Mr..
Strong got the following amounts from
the State Treasury:
sept. s. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. ESQ ~
4 PHI -, i-t+- - '''-'' $500 -
\ pc!i -, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ." M
Total ,.............-.. s5.6o+ -
r. tanned over To Secretary Arroyo LIZA ~
A IctclencT Of......-.--...,..-..-' Ai,t4" 10
Ii Will he seen that the hHst money
was drawn IN september, iHH@, and the
second IN April. 1851. Just after auditor
steele came into office, which was early
IN AprIl ISL. lie informed the Governor
Of the condition Of K Secretary
Strong's account. This fact was test
lied to by Mr.. Steele IN the inst trial OF
Strong IN December, le>b.
The following letter was offered III
evidence also on that trial, which shows
that the Governor was%t least aware OF
the facts as early as August, 1874:
AUGUST -. 1881.
| Hon. VIII A. Strong, ST Maurice. La:
| Dear Slr--It appears from the report OF
| Hon. T.. A. Burke, Treasurer,Iof t. \.
Rrandao 4 Co, Agents, that under sec
| ton - Of act - of 1S>2, there have
| been sold for election purposes and col
! Iected ticket paper to the amount OF
! $3.50 80 III 1AS2 and S!!43i - III 1874,
| amounting to $-:t2+ u. | am also IN
| formed at the Treasury Department
| that no money has been paid into the
| Treasury on account OF these sales OIL
| paper.
llr. Braudao further states that there
| IS still due the State money IN the coun-
| try and balance Of paper not used.
have to respectfully request that the
| above amounts Of money paid for
| tickets sold and collected, be paid INTO
| the treasury upon the order of the Audi
| tor of Public Accounts. and that lntor-
| marion be given ne Of amounts owing.
| and by whom owed. IN the country, tGr
! tickets, so that said amounts may be
speedily collected. Very respectfully
| yOUrs :. .. MCENEEY.
To this letter the following reply was
made:
ST. MAURICE, La, Sept. l., 1854.
10 His Excellency S. d. McEnery !:
! Dear Cioyeruor--I Am just IN receipt OF
your letter, having been absent from
| home attending court at W. and sparta
| and will he III Baton Rouge next week.
Very respectfully yours
| Our readers will note that this letter,
| arhicb was hIrd IN eciGcncc IN court, trds
uritttn dHg. rs, 1884.
| Nothing whatever was done to meet
| this defaication by Mr.. Strong, nor did
| the Governor impart his Information to
! the public. Whether the Governor
made any efforts to collect sums
alleged to be due to Strong, we do not
| know. But the facts remained a
profound secret IN the bosom Of the GorG'nor
npd those near han hro years. On
Aug. ~. 1886, the Picavune contained
an expose Of this Strong shortage.
| which called it TO the attention OF the
| Attorney General, and he took steps to
prosecute the party,
The silence of the Chief Magistrate of
a State concerning SO grave a matter
| under any circumstances would be, to
say the least, extraordinary. The TALL
| urs of Chief Magistrate to report such
an official delinquency to the law otil-
GERS of the government for two years,
the failure OF that Executive to report
such a matter to the Legislature, would
at any time be regarded as ine2cusa-
BILE.
But this is not all of the case against
| tle Governor in connection with this
matter.
MIR. Strong had IN the meantime been
elected to the honorable and RESPONSE
BILE position Of Secretary of the State
Senate. The Legislature met In 1886,
and still the Governor did not report
the facts to that body, as WAS his
sworn duty to do, but allowed the
continuance of violation of the Con-
stitution, article III, which reads:
ART. III. No person who, at any tune,
| NAV have been collector of taxes,
whether State, parish or municipal, or
who may have been otherwise intrusted
with public money, or any portion
thereof, shall be eligible to the General
Assembly or to any office of honor,
profit or trust under the State govern
ment, OF any parish or municipality
thereof, until he shall hare obtained q dis
charge for the amount of such collections
and for all public moneys aoith rhich he
may hare been inaasted.
Not only was Mr.. Strong allowed to
hold this position of Secretary of the
t'Senate. but he was appointed by the
Governor to other positions of honor
aud z9ust. He was made Brigadie1